Math Worksheets by Grade

Standard, Expanded and Word Form

This page contains links to free math worksheets for Standard, Expanded and Word Form problems. Click one of the buttons below to view a worksheet and its answer key. You can also use the 'Worksheets' menu on the side of this page to find worksheets on other math topics.

Practice worksheets for converting numbers from standard numeric notation into written (word form) notation. Writing numbers in word form is similar to the written word form used to fill out checks and some of these word form worksheets include variants with decimals appropriate for that topic.

Practice expanded form worksheets for converting numbers from standard numeric notation into expanded place value form. Expanded form worksheets will help students understand place value concepts and be better able to understand the gaps in converting longer numbers with zero place values into word form or other representations.

Expanded Form Worksheets

After learning multiplication, exponents are an important part of understanding fundamental numeric nomenclature and order of operations. The exponents worksheets in this section provide practice that reinforces the properties of exponents, including the basic procedures for adding exponents, subtracting exponents, dividing exponents and multiplying exponents. Exponents are also a critical part of understanding scientific notation, and one of the sets of exponents worksheets in this section focuses exclusively on powers of ten and exponents with base 10 to reinforce these concepts.

Using the Expanded Form Worksheets

The worksheets on this page require the student to write numbers in expanded form, writing numbers in standard form and rewriting numbers in word form. Numbers themselves have a specific meaning, which is the exact count of the objects to which the number refers. There are several means of expressing a number, and each has a different role to play. However, when starting to understand place value, being able to convert numbers to expanded form or back is a very useful skill.

The expanded form worksheets on this page are great practice for students learning about place value and a larger digit numbers.

What is Expanded Form?

Expanded form is a way to write a number such that all of the place value components of the number are separated.

When we write a number in expanded form, each digit is broken out and multiplied by its place value, such that the sum of all of the values equals the original number.

Writing Numbers in Expanded Form

The easiest way to visualize writing a number in expanded form is to see an example. Consider the number 1234. This number has three digits, so the expanded form representation of the number will have three components.

1,234 = 1000 + 200 + 30 + 4

When the number is written in expanded form, it is easier to understand the exact magnitude of each digit. In this example, even though the '1' in the thousands place is numerically smaller than the '4' in the ones place, the expanded form notation makes it clear that the place value connotes a much larger value even though the digit itself is smaller.

Numbers in Word Form

Numbers in word form are written in a way that corresponds to how you would read the value of a word aloud. For smaller numbers, number word form is something most students have a familiarity with and it's easy to grasp...

123 in word form is 'one hundred twenty three'

The complexity comes when periods (we're not talking about decimals here) are introduced. A period in numerical form is a group of three digits denoting the major place values of groups of the numbers. These are typically the thousands, millions, billions and similar amounts that are separated into groups of three place values either by decimals (or, in some countries, by commas). So for example, consider this number...

123,123,123

The word form of this number is 'one hundred twenty three million, one hundred twenty three thousand, one hundred twenty three.' You'll notice that the typical grouping of numbers corresponds to where we introduce the words 'millions' and similar. The goal of the word form worksheets here is to develop a level of comfort with these period groupings.

Note that when you write numbers in word form (or speak numbers for that matter), that the use of the word 'and' is a very specific indicator of that the whole component of the number in question has been completely described and that the decimal place starts. So for example...

4,321.5 = 'four thousand, three hundred twenty one and five tenths.'

The word 'and' here tells us where the decimal place occurs and where we're about to start a word form description of the fractional or decimal component of the number. This is important not just in writing numbers in word form, but also when writing the numerical description of a dollar amount while writing a check or other legal description of money. There the part after the 'and' is usually described as cents.

Either way, don't make the mistake of using the word 'and' anywhere while writing the word form of the wholes!

Teaching Place Value with Expanded Form Worksheets

Expanded form worksheets reinforce place value concepts by getting students to consider the actual value assigned to each digit in a number. Even though the process seems simplistic, by practicing converting to and from expanded form, your pupils develop a more innate number sense by being forced to consider not just the absolute value of a digit, but it's correspondence to its position in the entire number.

Decomposing numbers into expanded form is somewhat more procedural than going to other forms, but once this skill is mastered any of the reverse Numbers From Expanded Form Worksheets will reinforce the concepts.

You can choose to vary the complexity of the work you assign by selecting expanded form worksheets with longer digits or with decimal values, or simply mix these worksheets in as review assignments periodically, especially with students who seem to struggle with basic operations involved multi-digit problems.

Regardless of what approach you choose, all of the worksheets on this page, including the expanded form worksheets, will provide help converting between different forms of numbers and teaching place value. Also be sure to check out the place value chart for help figuring out periods and other subtleties of place value!